Defining strategy is a challenging thing to do but the characteristics of strategy can be summed up in the following definition, "A strategy is the set of actions through which an organisation, by accident or design, develops and uses them to deliver services or products in a way which its users find valuable, while meeting the financial and other objectives and constraints imposed by the key stakeholders."(Haberberg and Riepel, 2001, pn-32). There are different perspectives of strategy which is viewed by different people according to their own vision. Strategy formation is a process which is taken in consideration to improve the prospects of any organisation in the competitive environment. Wittman and Reuter(2008), describes characteristics of strategy by the criteria such as (1)profit potential which is the basic purpose of the strategy,(2)value based orientation which involves developing a set of objectives for creating value for the stakeholders,(3)competitive advantage, (4) market strategies and (4)corporate strategies.
[...] For example, the marketing tactics used by a company should give the marketing management an idea of the kind of business strategy that must be developed to achieve the desired result. Also, the generic strategy used at the business level affect how the functional-level marketing strategies or tactics are planned and executed. Etap Hotel provides basic rooms and services to the customers. The cost of staying for a day is one of the cheapest compared to any other hotel in the UK. [...]
[...] If an employee is working in the research and development department of a company say Apple. He or she is invited by a line manager for an upcoming meeting which would include the topic of a new product development such as a new mobile phone. He or she might consider it a good opportunity to learn about the plans of the company. This meeting might generate a new idea about that phone and then after discussing with the R&D department that idea can pass along to the production and marketing managers. [...]
[...] The second type of corporate strategy is stability. They are designed to keep the companies in stable form. Companies such as those that operate in low growth industries or no growth industry adopt this strategy. Next are retrenchment strategies. When a company's financial performance is down and it is experiencing problems then retrenchment strategies are the most appropriate. Retrenchment is done via three ways: turnaround, divestment and liquidation. The last but not the least, combination strategies are used for the cases of rapid environmental changes. [...]
[...] Grant(1995, pn-18) says that formulation and implementation of the strategy can not be dichotomized, a well formulated strategy must take account of the process through which it will be implemented.” Levels of Strategy in an Organisation The decision of the strategy formulation is sometimes depends on the size of the organisation. In most of the large organisations, three levels of strategies exist: corporate, business & functional. Corporate-level strategies Wright et al (1994) says that the corporate level strategy is formulated by the top management for the overall organisation. [...]
[...] An emergent strategy emerges from the lower management and middle level management without the intervention of the top management. Realised strategy Realised strategy is the strategy actually being followed in practice. Intended Strategy Realized Strategy Unrealised Strategy Emergent Strategy Figure: Types of strategy(source: Henry pn-22) The example of Honda's entry into the US motorbikes market is one of the best examples of the difference between intended strategy and realized strategy. During 1960-80, Honda dominated the motorbikes market in the US and the UK. [...]
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